Lock for ladles and hooks



A ril 7, 1964 H. l. DYCK LOCK FOR LADLES AND HOOKS Filed Sept. 11, 1961 lNl/E/VTOR HUBER? 1'. DYCK United States Patent 3,127,645 LOEK FOR LADLES AND HOOKS Hubert 1. Eyck, Pleasant Grove, Utah, assigns:- to United States Steel Qorporation, a corporation of New Jersey Fiied Sept. 11, 1%1, Ser. No. 137,390 4- Qlaims. (Cl. 22-82) This invention relates to lifting hooks and liquid metal carrying ladles and, more particularly, to ladies and hooks having a lock to prevent accidental disengagement in the pouring position.

One conventional type of ladle is a top pouring type having a pair of trunnions supported by a pair of lifting hooks usually depending from a crane. The ladle is poured by rotating it on the trunnions causing it to tip and spill the contents over the top. During pouring the outer rim of the ladle may be allowed to rest on the vessel into which it is being poured. If further rotation is effected while the rim is resting on the vessel the ladle may become disengaged from the hooks. When handling molten metal this disengagement not only may damage the ladle, but also can be quite dangerous because of splashing hot metal.

It is therefore a principal object of this invention to provide locking members on a ladle and lifting hooks to prevent separation of the ladle and the hooks while the ladle is in the pouring position.

A related object of this invention is to provide locking members for a ladle and lifting hooks which provide for facile engagement of the ladle by the lifting hooks when the ladle is in the upright position and which lock the ladle against disengagement when in the pouring position.

Several prior proposals for locks have included members across the throat of the hooks to prevent disengagement. However, these members require additional operations to engage and disengage and are often cumbersome to use.

It is therefore a further object of this invention to provide facilely engageable stop members for a ladle and hooks which do not obstruct the throat of the hook during engagement of the hook with the trunnions of the ladle, but lock the ladle from disengagement when pourmg.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description and accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a ladle supported on a pair of lifting hooks with the ladle in the upright position;

FIGURE 2 is the device of FIGURE 1 with the ladle in the pouring position; and

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken along the plane designated by line IIIIII of FIGURE 2.

Referring now to the drawing, a ladle 2 is provided with a pair of trunnions 4 and a lifting flange 6 having a hook eye 8. As thus far described the ladle is a conventional top pouring ladle. The ladle 2 is rotatably supported by a pair of lifting hooks 10 having lifting surfaces 11 engaging the trunnions 4. The hooks normally depend from a crane (not shown). Only one side of the ladle and one hook are shown, it being understood that the other side and hook are identical.

The novel and improved locking means include a pair of lock members 12 on opposite sides of the ladle and a pair of complementary lock members 14, one on each of the lifting hooks Ill. The lock members 12 include arcuate locking surfaces 16 and the lock members 14 include arcuate looking surfaces 18 complementary to the surfaces 16. The members 12 on the ladle are spaced from the axis of rotation of the ladle and thus are movable in an arcuate path as the ladle is rotated.

As can be seen in FIGURE 1 the lock members 12 are so positioned that when the ladle is in the upright position each locking surface 16 is laterally spaced from, and out of vertical alignment with, the complementary locking surface 18. This permits the lifting hooks 10 to freely move vertically to engage and disengage the trunnions 4. However, 'when the ladle 2 is rotated to the pouring position by hook and chain 20 as shown in FIGURE 2 the lock members 12 move with respect to the hooks 18' so that the locking surfaces 16 are vertically aligned with, and below, the complementary locking surfaces 18. Thus, if the outer rim of the ladle 2 is allowed to rest on vessel V into which it is being poured, as shown in FIG- UR-E 2, the locking surfaces 16 and 18 will contact each other and prevent the ladle 2 from being lifted off the lifting hooks 10. This prevents accidental disengagement of the ladle and the lifting 'hooks.

One of the outstanding advantages of this invention is that no obstruction across the throat of the hooks 10 is required. No manual clamping and unclamping of a safety guard of this nature is needed. When the ladle is in the upright position the hooks 1i) inherently are free to move vertically to engage or disengage the trunnions 4 to lift the ladle or set the ladle down. When the ladle is in the pouring position the locking members 12, 14 lock the ladle in the pouring position and prevent disengagement.

While one embodiment of my invention has been shown and described it will be apparent that other adaptations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a ladle having a pair of trunnions journalled for rotation on a pair of lifting hooks, said ladle being rotatable on said trunnions between an upright position and a pouring position, the improvement which comprises a first locking surface on said ladle, a second locking surface on one of said hooks, said first locking surface being positioned to move to a location vertically below and in alignment with said second surface positioned to prevent vertical separation of the ladle and hooks when the ladle is rotated into the pouring position and to move to a location out of vertical alignment with the second surface positioned to allow facile vertical disengagement of the ladle and hooks when the ladle is rotated to the upright position.

2. In a ladle having a pair of trunnions journalled for rotation on a pair of lifting hooks, said ladle being rotatable on said trunnions between an upright position and a pouring position, the improvement which comprises a first pair of locking surfaces on opposite sides of the ladle and spaced from the axis of rotation of the ladle, a second pair of locking surfaces one on each hook, said first pair of locking surfaces being positioned to move to a location vertically below and in alignment with said second pair of locking surfaces positioned to prevent vertical separation of the ladle and hooks when the ladle is rotated into the pouring position and to move out of vertical alignment with the second pair of locking surfaces when the ladle is rotated to the upright position.

3. in a ladle having a pair of trunnions journalled for rotation on a pair of lifting hooks and which ladle is rotatable between an upright position and a pouring position, the improvement which comprises a first pair of locking members carried by said ladle on opposite sides thereof, each of said first pair of locking members having an arcuate locking surface, a second pair of locking members one carried by each lifting hook and spaced downwardly from the trunnions, each of said second pair of locking members having an arcuate locking surface,

said first locking surfaces being movable with said ladle between a location below and vertically aligned with said second locking surfaces positioned to prevent vertical separation of the ladle and hooks when the ladle is in the pouring position and a location out of vertical alignment with the first locking surfaces on the ladle when the ladle is in the upright position.

4. In a ladle having a pair of trunnions journailed for rotation on lifting surfaces of lifting hooks, and which ladle is rotatable between an upright position and a pouring position, the improvement which comprises a first pair of locking surfaces on opposite sides of the ladle and spaced from the axis of rotation of the ladle, a second pair of locking surfaces one on each hook and spaced vertically below the lifting surfaces of the hooks, said first pair of locking surfaces being positioned to move to a location vertically below and in alignment with said second pair of locking surfaces positioned to prevent vertical separation of the ladle and hooks when the ladle is rotated into the pouring position and to move out of vertical alignment with the second pair of locking surfaces when the ladle is rotated to the upright position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 891,542 Hassel June 23, 1908 2,646,902 Nussberger et al. July 28, 1953 2,888,157 Riley May 26, 1959 

1. IN A LADLE HAVING A PAIR OF TRUNNIONS JOURNALLED FOR ROTATION ON A PAIR OF LIFTING HOOKS, SAID LADLE BEING ROTATABLE ON SAID TRUNNIONS BETWEEN AN UPRIGHT POSITION AND A POURING POSITION, THE IMPROVEMENT WHICH COMPRISES A FIRST LOCKING SURFACE ON SAID LADLE, A SECOND LOCKING SURFACE ON ONE OF SAID HOOKS, SAID FIRST LOCKING SURFACE BEING POSITIONED TO MOVE TO A LOCATION VERTICALLY BELOW AND IN ALIGNMENT WITH SAID SECOND SURFACE POSITIONED TO PREVENT 